Method of making wirebound-box blanks



Nave 17, 1925- E. CRAHG METHOD OF MAKING WIREBOUND BOX BLANKS s Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed Jum 28, 1924 Nov. 17, 1925' E. CRAIG METHOD OF MAKING WIREBOUND BOX BLANKS Fiied June 28, 1924 3 Sheets-sheet 2 NOV. E. CRAIG:

METHOD OF MAKING WIREBOUND BOX BLANKS Filed June 28 1924 3 sheets fihee't BMW Patented Nov. 1?, i925.

nurro srarns- PATEN o EDWARD CllahIG, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, ASSIG-NOR T0 SARANAG AUTOMATIC MAGHIEQ'E CGRPORATION,

DELAWARE.

013 BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN, A CURPOEATIQN GI! METHOD 0F MAKING WIREBOUND-BOX BLANKS.

Application and .Tune 2B, 12m. Serial No. 723,058.

1 '0 all wit-0m it may concern:

Be it known that l, EDWARD CRAIG, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Joseph, Berrien County, lllichipgan, have inrented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of Making Wirebound-Box Blanks, of which the following; is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of wire-boui id box blanks for the production of wire-bound boxes of that kind in which the sides or sections or sheets of the blank are reinforced, or some of them, by means of cleats secured thereto, and are flexiblyconnected together by parallel bindinp wires which are stapled. to the sheets and the cleats, so that each blank is foldable into box form. I

ltl'ore particularly, the invention relates to the manufacture of wire-bound box blanks by machinery of that kind, in which means are provided for propelling or feeding cleats along with the other materials, for one or more of the sheets of each blank, so'that each blank will have one or more cleated sections, as well as one or more cleatless sections. In the use of machinery of this kind, the sheets and cleats are dclircred in any suitable manner to the work feeding means for feeding the sheets and cleats forward below the staplers, and for this purpose'cndlcss belts or sprocket chains are usually rm iloyed, and guides are pro vided for the cleats. The said belts or sprocket chains, however, are ordinarily provided with sheet spacers, or projections which extend between the sheets, to properly space the sections of blanks apart, and said belts or chains are also provided With cleat pushcrs for engaging and propelling the cleats along the guides, whereby the staples which are drivenby the stapling mechanism to secure the binding; Wires in place serve also to attach the cleats to their respective sheets or sections of the blank. @fCllIlELlily, the staples which are employed for securing the wires to sheets having cleats are longer than the staples which are driven to secure the wires to the clcatless sheets. in this way each blank is provided with one or more cleated sheets, and with one or more cleatless sheets, depending on the number of cleat pusher-s employed on said belts or sprocket chains to feed the cleats.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide an improved process or method whereby machinery of the foregoin general character may be employed for the n'ianut'acture of wire-bound box blanks having cleats on each and every sheet or section thereof, or having cleats on more sections thereof than is called for by. the number of cleat pus-hers on the feed belts or sprocket chains, so that either a partially cleated blank or a full cleated blank, for

wirebound blank method or process or. thisparticular character.

It is also an object to obviate the necessity of using certain things heretofore considered necessary in the production. of Wire bound boxes.

To the foregoing and other-useful ends, the invention consists in the matters here inatter set forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, ertical section of a wire-bound box blank machine of the general character. previously mentioned, with one end of the machine shown broken away for convenience of illustration.

Fig.2 is a plan of certain portions of said machine.

Fig. dis a perspective of one form of blank to be made on said machine.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of a different form. of blank to be made on said machine.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of one of the previously 'cleated sheets or sections employed in the manufacture of blanks in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 6 is a perspective ofi'one of the cleatless sheets or sections employed in the manufacture cl blanks on said machine.

Fig. 7 is a perspective of one of the cleats employed in the manufacture of blanks by the improved method or process.

{the cleats-slung therein. It will be under .stood that these feed belts or sprocket chains are operated intermittently, in any suitable or desired manner, so that the materials are fed intermittently below the stapling mechanism 6,-which latter cu be of any suitable or desired form also. Anvils 7 are arranged to enter the guides 22, automatically, being pivotcd'at 8 and con" trolled by springs 9, 'so that these anvils will support any clestless sections of the blanks to clinch the staples on the under surface thereof. \Vire 10 is supplied to the stapling mechanism for the production 01 the staples, and the machine thus shown and described is of s common end well known'iorni, being equipped with four elect pushers 5 for each end every blank, so that the blanks to be made in the ordinary manner will be of the character shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Such a blank cone.

rises the. four sections 11 12 13 and 1 1 p 9 7 the sections 12 and lie-having elects 15, but

the sections 11 and 13 being left cleetless, whereby the blank is of a well known i'orni commonly called on alternate-elect blank. The binding wires 16 are secured to the blank by the staples l? and 18, the staples 17 being longer than the staples 18, whereby the staples 17 secure the cleats to the sections 12 sd 14-. The elect pushers 5 of the machine e disposed in position to engege the cleats 15, end. in addition said ma chine is provided. with" sheet spacers 19 for end ere provided'witb v lire pertiellysecurcd thereto by staples 23 driven by Jen ordinary electing machine.

Thus the sections 20 end 2i come to the before the cleats reach the staplers.

"shownfi'n Fi 4 the some b 3 i the separation of the sheets, so that spaces will be provided-between the edges of the sheets or sections of the blank, thereby to insure correct folding of the blenk, when the ssm'e is' folded into box form. Any oleatless sheets are necessarily supported on theblocks which lisvethe sheet splice-rs 1'9 and elect pushers 5,'8.S shown, blocks being secured at predetermined intervals to thebelts 3, so that underncz-zth support is necessary for only the unattached cleats, But of course, during the stapling woperstion the crests must be su -ported. 1

-'-" New for] theirpro uctiofn-cfthe blank machinery is e sections 20 "sets 2 which employed, but ini-this cese.

ruschiue already equippeel with." elects, and

consequently the machine does not require.

any elect pushers for the debts 22, mosmuch as these cleats are carried by their respective sheets, and are automatically fed or propelled along the guides 2 inthe desirizd manner. Thus for the reduction of a blank of the kind shown in ig. 4, which is e full-elected or eight-elected blank, the operator or attendant will place loose cleats in position against the elect pushers 20 and 21 will have more sta les than the other sections, inasmuch as t e staples 23 are provided in addition to those driven by the box-blank machine itself.

It will be'seen that the cleats ere referably of the tongue and groove kin, being tengued, and grooved'et their ends to tit together nicely when the blank is folded intobox form. Thus either formof blank can be made. on one and the same machine. It is obvious, of course, that another form of blank can be made by supplying only one previously elected sheet, so that the blank will have three elected sheets and one uncleatcd sheetwhen finished. In any event however, the invention contemplates e method of manufacturing box blanks whereby the. number of cleats on the blanks can be increased or varied without changing the number of the elect pushers on the feed belts. or sprocket chains by which the materials are fed or' moved along to receive the staples from the stapling mechanism. The wires, of course, are se cured progressively to the blank, and are cut off their ends in a manner to provide wire ends which can be twisted together to close the box when the blan is folded into be); term. It is obvious, of course, that any kind of heads or end walls (notshown) can be employed to close the ends'bfthe box, end it is obvious that theso heeds'or endx-walls can be secured to the-tum, of some of them, in the usual and. well known manner. :v-As thus shown, the chains-'01; belts S- trev el iuthe directionindicated'by the arrows in- Figs. 1 and 2, and the elects which slide in the uides 2 will push the anvils or clinch blocks out'of the way, so that these anvils will. only move into operative position when cle-etless sheets come alon When blanks of the kind shown in Fig. 3 are produced, the envils 7 will move "under the sections 11 end 13, to clinch the staples l8, and will be pushed automatically out of the way by the cleats of the other sections. Thus the niachine may have any sutable or desired number of cieat pushers 5 and is not limited 'cleat pushers thereon.

i ooeme eel to any particular number, for by means of the method or process shown and (lfiSClllllGll' di il'ereut kinds of blanks can he made on the machine withoutehanging the number of The invention contemplates, therefore, the feeding of cleats for one or more sheets of each blank, and the feeding of previously fastened cleats for one or more sheets of each blank, so that the production of each blank involves the use of cleats which must he initially tened in place by the same staples by which the wires are secured in place, and the use of other cleats which are fastened in place to the sheet iuziterial before entering the uni-- chinc. 'lhus tor any previously cleatcd. sheet or sheets, no cleat' pushers are necessar v. and the cleat -pusher method .-o-o )eratcs with the pro-clearing method (or cleat pusherless method) to produce a blank having more cleats than are sailed for by the min her of cleat 'pushers on the machine, or more than would be possible to fasten in place by the hox-hlanl; machine itself. As shown, the hex-blank machine is operative to tasllil cleats on two sections of the hlank; but if another section is to he cleatcd. or if all the sections are to be cleated, it is obvious that 10 i -uik'machine itself is inoperative to ii the, and hence the additional cleats must come to the machine alreach, attached to their respective sheets, if blanks h riup; more than two clcatcd sections are to he made withoutchunging the structure of the machine. Thus, as stated, the pro'cleatiin g method. is combined with and employed to co-operate with the clout-pusher method to prmluce blanks having more cleats than can he fastened in place by the hlanlc machine itself, and ditl'erent kinds of blanks can. he made, depending upon circumstancesand requireinents and the use to he made of the Mixes. All of the sheets, whether cleated or 'lllltll'ftltC jl, are spaced apart and carried on the, blocks of the chains or feed helts, so that each sheet is individiullly prope led hy pressure exerted at its rear edge, and there is no crowding together of the sheets and no conuuuuication of "feeding or propelling uiolion from one sheet to another. .oiis-' 'quent ly, the heck pull exerted by the hunting wires, as the blanks more along helow the stapling mechanism, is couunuuicated suci'i. s. i'\ely to the. different Slltfti'fh and from. each sheet directly to the teed belt: so that compression of the sheets together avoided. and at the same time the hlenlr machine will seerre to simple both unattached and pro riously attached cleats to their respective sheets.

in any suitable manner, and whenv tullrleated blank is desired, such as the one shown, the materials will be supplied. iic- (:ordiugly, so that some sheets are nucleated The )re-oleatin of sheets; can he y none by an oromary cleoting machine, or

and some sheets are cleiited, the elem-tee sheets will elternet-e with the uuclea'ted sheets on the machine, with loose uuattochei'l clezits'hel-ow each cloak-lea sheet, oe' fore cleats are all secured in place lay staples which are driven crosswise out the binding; Wires to secure the to the sheets and cleats to form hhinirs which can he folded into hoe 'lhuea pertiolly cleated blank herring: one or more cleatless sections con he inside on 'inoehiitie designed for that; purpose, and lay using" previously otto hed and unattachecl cleats, es exp lied, toll cleeterl hlenh, or atleaet, one l'lErtVlIlgP: more cleats than is contemplated by the ftQtl no ippa ratue, can he made on a machine cl .i: ued primarily for the making; of a blank having one or more cleetless sect-ions. method contemplates the use loose cleiits and previously attached cleats in the Wiring of? one and the same hlenh.

Thus it will be seen that, in the practice of the method shown end described, whereby either a cleated or a portielly cleated. blank may he made on one and the same machine. no spacer blocks are neceshetween the cleets, as the pusher system is employed nit-stead, even when pie-cleatiny; is used ior one or more of the sheets.

The pusher-s 5 push any loose which a re placed in the stationary guide-i, so that any inisplziceuient or disarmngeuient ot' the cleats is unavoidable and automatically tilled, as the loose cleats :inot more to wax-rd under the staplers, ol course, except as the pushers 5 are in firm. ongageiueht with the rear ends of such cleats; hut any pro-- ttachecl cleats, for preclezited sheets. are nou capable of oily misploe uncut or dis arrangement in she hhinlr machine, as they are properly placed on. the sheets heliore euteriug the machine, and the precleated sheets push and carry their allotted cleats forward in the fittlhltllltlly guides, so that the pusher system is employed for the cleats in the making of either type of blank. ()5 course, the spacer system is employed for the sheets, as spacers 19 are interposed hetween the cleats for pre loeted sheets, 'lhcse sheet spacers have three functions, iii-st to space the sheets, second to propel the sheets forwa d, again i; any drag or hack pull of the binding Wires, and third to propel the cleats of any precleated sheets. lihus the cleats do not ride on a moving structure of any kind, but; to the contrary are pushed. and can l to slide in. stationary guides so that: misp, J cement or (llSil.llzlll(tl]tiliL of any loose cleats is necessarily automatically rrctitled as the 're-ailt of retardation of the cleats by the guides or other elements with which th come in contact, or by which the}; are opposcd, ensuring lll'll'l contact of the rear ends oil? such cleats with their al Th the relatively to previously attached cleats, thus obviating the use of the spacer blocks bctween any oi' the cleats.

What I claim as my invention is: 1.. A method of making wire-bound box blanks by securing sheets and cleats and binding wires together by machinery, comprising the feeding of-loose or unattached cleats under one or more sheets of each blank, and the feeding of previously attached cleats under one or more sheets of each blank, thereby causing the sheet 11121-- terial to initially position some cleats in each blank, while requiring individual positionin of other cleats, so that for each blank there are some previously attached cleats which are carried along by the sheet material, and also some unattached cleats to be secured to one or more sheets by the machinery for making the blanks, maintaining the sheets and cleats in relative position While moving along, inserting. staples to secure binding wires'in place to flexibly connect the sections of the blank together and to secure both the attached and the aunt tacked cleats to their respective sheets,

so that some cleats are propelled by individual pressure on their rear ends, while other cleats are necessarily propelled by the sheet material 2', A method as specified in claim 1, in which cleat pushers form the means for maintaining the unattached cleats in relablanks by machiner tive position. I

3. A method as specified. in claim 1, in which the means for maintaining the sheets in position prevent the sheets from jamming together at their edges and form the means by which propelling motion is inclividually communicated to each sheet at the the binding wires is sustained by one 1 sheet individually, regardless of Whether suchback pull is being exerted on a previously.

cl'eated sheet or a sheet to which the cleats are being initially attached by the stapling of the binding W1rcs thereto.

4. In the manufacture of Wire bound box havin both sheet feedin means and meat feet mg means,f a metho of .making blanks having more cleats than said cieat feeding means is aperative to teed, comprising the placing of one or more previously elected sheets in position for the blank, so that some cleats ull of sheet indivi I thereto at the rear edge thereof, so that the wear-1s are attached prior to the wiring operation,

placing some' unattached cleats in osition relatively to the prcaiously attache cleats,

placing; one or more sheets on unattached cleats, the sheet feeding means-spacing the sheets apart, exerting pressure on the rear edges of the sheets, causing the precleated sheet or sheets to propel the cleats thereof exerting pressure against the rear ends 0 unattached cleats to propel them in unison with the sheets and other cleats, and stapling binding Wires to the sheets and cleatsto flexibly connect together the different sections of the blank.

In the manufacture or" Wire-bound box blanks by machinery having both sheet feeding means and clcat feeding means, a

method of making blanks having more cleats than said cleat feeding means is 019-. eraiive to feed, comprising the placing of one or more previously cleated sheets in position for the blank. so that some'cleats are attached prior to the wiring operati6h,

placing one or more cleatless sheets'in proper position for the blank, placing unattached cleats in position to be attached to said cleatless sheets, the sheet feeding means spacing the sheets apart, exerting pressure.

can

6. The improved method of manufacture of Wire-bound box blanks comprising placmg in ositlon one or more precleated sheets, 1) acmg 1n position one or more unattached cleats, placing a sheet or sheets in position over said unattached cleats, exertmg feeding pressure on the rear of said unattached cleats and at the rear of said sheets, whereby the assembly material is fedforward and the use of spacer blocks between the cleats and the exertion of back pressure on the front ends of the cleats are obviated.

7. A method of making wire bound box blanks by securing. cleats and binding wires together by machinery, comprising the feeding of loose or unattached cleats under one or more sheets of each blankand the feeding of previously elected-sheets for the other sheets of each blank, sothat for each blank there are some reviously attached ol eats which are carrie along by the shee'tgymw te'rial and also some unattached cleats which are to be secured t'ottheir sheets, s racing and maintaining said'sheets epart uring the feeding thereof to prevent jamming of their ed es together, propelling eac climlly by pressure communicated back pull of the binding, wires is sustained by each sheet individually, regardless of whether such back pull is being exerted on a previously cleated sheet 01' on a sheet ini-, tially to he attaehed tn the cleats by the binding wires, and applying binding Wires to the cleats and sheets as they are fed.

8. The improved method 01 making wire bound box blanks, comprising the assen1 bling of precleated and nucleated sheets having cleats therebeneath, individually propelling said sheets and the unattached cleats and applying binding" wil'es to the sheets and ('lezts as they are so propelled.

EDWARD CRAIG. 

